Coach Steve's Corner

" OVERRATED! " They often scream from all corners of the college basketball world. "Syracuse plays a soft non-conference schedule and never leaves New York," they say condescendingly. "The 2-3 zone is a gimmick. Real teams play man." "He's a crybaby!" "He's only won one National Tournament. He'd have won more if he was an all-time great," they point out. Jim Boeheim, despite his 925 wins (1,026 if you counted 101 wins vacated by the NCAA), is one of the most criticized coaches in the college basketball world. Fans across the country often point out the above-mentioned critiques, along with countless others. Meanwhile at the same time he is revered by Syracuse fans, like myself, as being one of the greatest coaches ever. How can you truly argue against over 1,000 wins and 31 NCAA tournament appearances in 42 years? I don't know but there are plenty who do. No matter what your opinion of Jim Boeheim, there&

As the Islanders continue to find ways to lose during their dismal eight game losing streak, the worry has truly begun to set in. No, I'm not speaking of the worry of missing the playoffs for a second straight season. That reality was reached already. I'm looking at the larger, more important picture than the current season, which has gone incredibly sour after false hopes were built upon a fairly sweet start. The big picture that could become very worry some, which I speak of is built around one man: John Tavares. Islanders fans are well aware that Tavares is set to become a free agent at the end of this season. The fan base has been looking at the beginning of the 2018 free agency period as a potential D-Day since the season began without Tavares penning an extension. The trade deadline has come and gone with the team remaining committed to it's decision to let its floundering season play out rather than attempt to move Tavares for a potential boatload of assets. This n

I can't claim to be a lifelong Eagles fan having been born and raised in New York. In fact, I can pinpoint the exact day that I swore my allegiance to Philadelphia football. It was April 17, 1999, the day Philadelphia took Donovan McNabb with the second overall pick in the draft. Being a 12 year old without a true favorite team I decided to follow the best player to come out of my favorite college program, Syracuse, on his NFL journey. Shortly after the draft I harassed my mother into ordering me a forest green #5 jersey when it first appeared in an Eastbay catalog and my allegiance was complete. Donovan McNabb has come and gone after a fairly noteworthy career. Yet, I have remained steadfastly loyal through the last 19 seasons. Through the years I have stuck with the team through the ups and downs and learned what it means to suffer like a Philadelphian. My high school years were filled with some great seasons. However, they all ended in heartbreak. Three straight NFC title ga

Greatness. Everyone wants it but few ever achieve it. Those on the outside looking in either admire or envy those who are able to achieve it. There is often little middle ground when it comes to the public opinion of greats. I find this to be especially true in sports. I grew up in an era of dynasties in the 1990's. The Chicago Bulls in the NBA. The Dallas Cowboys in the NFL. The New York Yankees in MLB. I despised the Michael Jordan led Bulls and Troy Aikman led Cowboys. To me they were the ultimate villains who stirred up loathing within my young heart. I rooted against them at every turn only to be disappointed every time they lifted another NBA Finals or Super Bowl trophy. Looking back, my youth along with my envy and loathing of these teams took away from appreciation of what they were actually accomplishing. On the flip side growing up a Yankees fan in New York during the late 90's was glorious. I fell more and more in love with my favorite sports franchise as my

I grew up spoiled. I'll admit it. I spent my adolescence watching the Yankees dominate baseball in the late 90's and continue to compete into the 2000's.  I've experienced many postseasons where the Yankees were expected to win.However, this was a year where nobody expected the Yankees to do much. Many preseason projections had them finishing below .500. My optimistic self hoped for a Wild Card push at the very least back in April. We've gotten that and so much more. And still it continues. The Yankees were able to make that Wild Card push. In fact they ran away with the Wild Card and even made a last gasp effort at the division title going into the last weekend of the season. The 2017 regular season was an unexpected, fun-filled ride with some ups and downs but mostly lot of ups. Ups that the Yankees were never expected to reach. Yet here we are on October 17 and the Yankees are still playing baseball. Correct me if I'm wrong but the Yankees weren't sup

Going into last night’s game I felt very good about the Yankees chances of beating Minnesota. On paper they had the better lineup and for as good as Ervin Santana was all year for the Twins, the Yanks had the better starter going in the form of Luis Severino. Severino had been masterful all season and is likely to finish in the top 3 in American League Cy Young voting. The only thing that worried me going in was the potential unpredictability of a one game playoff. Baseball is often an unpredictable game and in one game the best team doesn’t always win. Last night the better team did win but they did it in a very unprecedented way. The Yankees used a formula that perhaps only their team is built for. The good feeling that Yankees fans had going into the game was quickly erased when Brian Dozier took Severino yard on a high fastball to lead off the game. However, my feeling was it’s just a solo homerun. Nothing to worry about. Then things got bad real quickly when after giving up a tw